


Follow the Fellow Who's Haunting Your Dreams

by RosaClearwater



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, Gen, Harold and John are only mentioned in this (in case anyone was expecting Rinch), M/M, Root is totally a ghost that haunts the music department
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-22
Updated: 2017-10-22
Packaged: 2019-01-21 15:12:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12460365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RosaClearwater/pseuds/RosaClearwater
Summary: In which Shaw is an un-aspiring singer who just wants to graduate early to go to med school and Root haunts the music building.





	Follow the Fellow Who's Haunting Your Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> 'Tis the season for ghostly oneshots, n'est pas?
> 
> Fans of Relevance should note that there’s a familiar OC annnd a familiar song also mentioned in Relevance :)
> 
> There is also one or two curse words scattered in here, but nothing particularly vulgar.
> 
> And, finally, Ghostspeak will be in _"italicized quotation marks."_
> 
> Thoughts will be _italicized._
> 
> ~ And singing will be _italicized_  
>  and represented as such ~

“Sameen, is there a lot of money in that corner that I'm just not seeing?”

 

Her eyes flickered back to her instructor -- one Lynn Tholden -- as she tried to shape her face into some semblance of a thin smile.

 

“Sorry, thought I saw a spider.” She hadn’t, but, instead of the typical terror that remark brought, her voice instructor merely raised an eyebrow.

 

“You know, in all my time of teaching in this room, I’ve never seen any spiders in here. Just the webs.”

 

_“I wonder how long she’s been working here.”_ The woman in the corner spoke up, curiously studying Lynn. Of course, Lynn had no reaction of any kind at this comment.

 

After all, how could you notice a ghost if said ghost wasn’t interested in revealing herself to you?

 

"Really?"

 

“It's true." It also seemed like Lynn wasn't the type to be bothered by spiders -- something Sameen could respect. "Well, shall we look the English before we run out of time?”

 

While the respect didn't go away at the rhetorical question, the frustration came back. Sameen refrained from a sigh, still not sure as to why she had agreed to taking voice lessons in the first place.

 

"Sure."

 

Oh, wait, she knew exactly why: it was a 1-unit class, it’d still count for a general education requirement, and she wouldn’t even have to perform any of these songs in front of people unless she was absolutely dying to.

 

And, it also just so happened that music lessons were taught in the only haunted building on campus.

 

But, that had definitely not been a decision factor.

 

_“At least it’ll be over in only ten minutes?”_ The woman remarked from her corner, watching as Sameen slowly opened her binder to begrudgingly search for the music.

 

Sameen faintly nodded at this.

 

Another perk to this was that she could opt for twelve 30 minute lessons instead of a full hour, so the vocal torture was only for a total of six hours over a semester.

 

She finally flipped to the appropriate page with a barely concealed grimace.

 

_“Try to at least feign enthusiasm for a few minutes?”_ For a ghost, she could be pretty damn sarcastic.

 

_Do not glare at her, look at your music. She is not turning you on, she is a ghost. Do not glare at her, look at your music._

 

Sameen didn’t even know where the woman -- who went by Root apparently -- came from, or why she had even started to talk to her. The only thing that Sameen knew was that Root was here, that she seemed content to follow Sameen everywhere in this building, and that she was decent conversationalist.

 

Even if she was dead.

 

“Now, Sameen, did I explain to you why I chose this piece?”

 

“Nope.” _“Yes.”_

 

They both spoke at the exact same moment, but only one voice actually carried itself to Lynn. Said voice instructor glanced away from her own copy of the song to look at the bio student who just wanted to graduate and really didn't want to be here.

 

“Well, while you didn’t really strike me as the bubbly type,”  Lynn quipped, causing Root to snicker at this while Sameen really resisted rolling her eyes. “I could see you enjoying the message behind this song. _And,_ I do believe this particular song's pace would help you to gain better control of you breathing -- making it easier to maintain your phrases without running out of air.”

 

Now, Sameen knew that Lynn was cognizant of the fact that she wasn’t going to be a professional singer. That this was just a way of graduating faster and nothing else.

 

And _still_ the woman wanted to create a lesson out of this, an opportunity for improvement. It honestly reminded Sameen of her friend Harold and _that_ in itself was one of the only reasons she didn’t drop voice lessons after the first session.

 

That, and Root made decent commentary when Sameen grew frustrated.

 

"So, with the little time that we have left, let's see what we get through alright?"

 

"Sure," Sameen said. not really committing herself to fully agree. After all, maybe the clock would jump to 11:45am and she'd be able to bolt off to lunch.

 

But, no, it was not meant to be. And, soon enough, Sameen heard a familiar notes slowly begin to step off the piano. She took a slow breath, content to take her time even though she knew she'd eventually have to sing.

 

_~ On the day I was born_

_Said my father, said he,_

_I’ve an elegant legacy waitin’ for ye ~_

 

It was true that her own father had always high expectations for her. But, when she had continued to read the lyrics the first time around, Sameen realized that they didn’t quite match what she had imagined.

 

_~ ‘Tis a rhyme for you lip_

_And a song for your heart,_

_To sing it whenever the world falls apart. ~_

 

She breathed in, sinking further into the piece and closing her eyes. She didn’t need the music sheets for this; she had this memorized within the first few weeks.

 

_~ Look, look,_

_Look to the rainbow._

_Follow it over the hill and stream ~_

 

Sameen glanced outside of the office, feeling the sun start to glow on her cheeks as she continued to let go.

 

John, another friend of hers, wasn't going to tease her for singing this. Harold would only enjoy the optimistic message and cheer her on. Her family was in another state and therefore unable to state their opinions about all of this.

 

And the one other person -- ghost? _thing?_ \-- she cared about had been encouraging from the start. 

 

And was sitting only five feet away from her. 

 

So, she could just sing.

 

Let go for a few seconds and stop thinking about everything else going on in life.

 

Just sing.

 

_~ Look, look,_

_Look to the rainbow._

_Follow the fellow_

_Who follows a dream. ~_

 

The lyrics were cheesy as hell. That alone would normally have her protesting its very existence let alone her actually singing.

 

But, every time she stole a glance at Root, the woman would remain really transfixed on just listening -- clearly enjoying the sounds as they whirled around the tiny space that wasn't really an office but also wasn't a classroom. And, Lynn would continue to beam with more and more satisfaction the more Sameen tried to let herself just sing.

 

And, so, she tolerated it.

 

_For now._  


End file.
